Thousands of protesters outside the state Capitol in Lansing showed up to protest the signing of the right-to-work bill by Gov. Rick Snyder on Tuesday, Dec 11, 2012. / Eric Seals/Detroit Free Press

Detroit Free Press Lansing Bureau

LANSING — The Michigan State Police spent more than $900,000 on beefed-up Capitol security during the week of Dec. 5-12 when right-to-work legislation was pushed through the Legislature, according to figures released today by the Michigan State Police.

The state police reported spending $802,956 on overtime and another $98,176 on miscellaneous costs such as travel, supplies and equipment.

That $901,132 total is on top of $464,317 in regular wages and associated costs for the troopers mobilized — money that would have spent anyway, the department said.

Police officials have refused to say how many troopers were deployed at the Capitol, citing security reasons.

“These figures are still preliminary as there are some invoices outstanding, but this is the bulk of the cost,” spokeswoman Shanon Banner said in an e-mail.

“We don’t expect it to change drastically.”

Zack Pohl, executive director of the liberal group Progress Michigan, said the security levels at the Capitol and the resulting costs were excessive.

“These are costs that normally would have been spent keeping our roads and communities safe,” Pohl said.

“I think it says a lot about the quality of the legislation that was being rammed through.”

But Banner said the costs compared favorably to the close to $10 million in extra security costs incurred by Capitol police in Madison, Wisc. and nearly 200 other law enforcement agencies that participated during labor protests there in 2011.

However, those demonstrations were over a much longer time period, starting Feb. 13 and stretching into March.

Right-to-work legislation makes it illegal to require financial support of a union as a condition of employment.